Wayward Priestess
by amrynini
Summary: How she got called a priestess, is something she had no idea about. She did know she's not where she's supposed to be. But she helped, and healed a lot regardless of that fact. She helped some random kid from getting mauled by a boar, too. That kid was Ashura, little brother of Indra. And can Sakura just say that they're both really adorable. PLOTLESS(?)ONESHOTS! TimeTravel!
1. Shot 1: Wayward Priestess

**A/N: This is my first time attempting to write something here hahaha bear with me. I caught this little bunny from a cute IndraSaku fanart and this is where it got me.**

 **I'm terribly new to this fandom, so this is going to have some errors canon-wise. Oh, grammatically too, English isn't my first language ahaha (I also edited this on my iPhone so expect some..urk)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. At all.**

* * *

•••

Sakura was 17 when she was sent careening into somewhere—nowhere, really. She had no idea where she was. She could be in a genjutsu for all she knows.

At first, she had rushed into the treetops of the forest she awoke in, running—practically flying—to whatever direction her body took her to as she was in a blind state of panic. She had to return to the battlefield. Everyone was still there, fighting to their deaths. Her boys were still there. And where was she? Dozing off on a bed of Baby's Breath in a middle of a forest.

But Sakura stopped. She stopped in the middle of a clearing, and looked up to the sky, with the view not being blocked by thick foliage for once.

There, right there, was a brightly shining sun. In her eyes, she saw the moon. She expected it to suddenly morph into a bleeding red moon, an eye with tomoes that stared down into the depths of her soul.

But it doesn't. And her expectations did not come about. The sun was just that—just a sun. She spread out her senses, and there was not a single thing out of place. She wasn't a great sensor, but she was good enough. Either this was real, or a really good genjutsu.

She formed her hands into a seal, willed some of her chakra to come forth.

"Release!" she exclaimed.

She felt the shockwave spreading out in every direction, to expose every flaw in this genjutsu and to seep into a crack to break the whole thing.

But nothing happened.

So she called forth another fraction of her reserves, and activated her seal. The black markings spread out into her scalp, over her cheeks, down her neck and disappearing into her clothes. She could feel the markings all over her skin, and she could feel her control on chakra rising to a level that seemed god-like. Well, maybe not god-like. That's just pushing it. But who knew her Byakugo could actually break some higher-level genjutsu, right?

So with really good chakra control, with that small bit of chakra—another shockwave burst out of her.

"Release!"

She felt herself sink a few inches into the ground as a small crater formed under her feet. Like a strong gust of wind, her chakra made bushes sway and some nearby birds to fly away in fright.

Still, nothing happened.

Sakura could feel the tears coming. Where was she? This wasn't a genjutsu, at all. This wasn't that Unlimited or whatever Tsukuyomi—or was it Infinite?—because she remembered that the tree was still up, with the bud still tightly closed. How did she even end up here?

Sakura fell onto her knees. She grit her teeth and punched the crater in frustration. There wasn't any chakra in that punch, but the crater still earned another crack.

She deactivated her seal. She took a deep breath and stood up. She needs to get out of here.

That, she did as she took off to the trees again, before glancing one last time to the sun. But that was really just it, a sun.

Sakura's gaze hardened, and sped off.

* * *

•••

It took her six months. Half a year.

It took her that long to accept her predicament, and to fully adjust to how things would go for her at this point in time. Literally.

•••

After she got out of that forest—which took her 48 hours—all those days ago, she stumbled upon a village. It was ridiculously old fashioned, Sakura had to stand for one solid minute just staring at everything. A kid approached her, asking why her clothes were 'funny'. Sakura didn't have an answer to that.

She got herself a place to stay, after healing the kid's dying grandmother—who wasn't really dying, they just didn't know the treatment to her illness. Not yet anyway. The villagers were intrigued, curiously glanced at her seal every now and then, and asked if she was a priestess. How they assumed that, she had no idea. She denied it, but they called her it anyway. 'The Priestess', just that, nothing fancy. Sakura just shrugged, she got a place to stay, at least. And some new clothes too, even if they were more suited to an actual priestess than to a kunoichi.

•••

A day after that she figured out she was not in the Elemental Nations. At all. She asked if this was Fire Country and hell, they just went, "Fire Country? Where's that?" The kid told her she was in the Land of.. what was it again? It was a pretty forgettable one syllable name. She honestly didn't bother to remember, she did, after all blank out after hearing that Fire Country didn't exist here.

But someone thankfully snapped her out of her thoughts—saying something she wasn't really sure she should be thankful of.

"Maybe Hagoromo-sama would know!"

•••

Two weeks later she confirmed that this Hagoromo-sama was indeed the Sage of Six Paths. Sakura had to give herself a minute because this was _the Sage_ himself. The Rikudō Sennin. Alive. Breathing. Existing. Did she mention _alive_?

It was then she came up with the thought of time-travel. Sakura knows its ridiculous, but still possible. The 'time' in 'space-time jutsu' was there for a reason, after all. But still, how? _Why_? In the Sage's era? Of all ages?

Another thought hit her after that. She had to wander around the forest alone for a day to keep it together. She couldn't though. She just couldn't.

Everyone she came to know was gone. Just like that. Not really gone, but not alive. Yet. But they will be, thousands and thousands of years later. Konoha, her parents, Ino, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-shishou and, oh gods, Naruto and Sasuke. _Naruto and Sasuke._

All gone. What had happened? What about the war? Did Madara—oh god did Madara win? What happened to everyone? _What happened_ —

•••

A week later, she still couldn't accept it all. It was still too far-fetched. Once something seemingly unexplainable happens, it always has something to do with chakra. Levitation? Chakra. Making moons? _Chakra_. But this? Time travel? Even the Goddess of _Time_ won't allow chakra to meddle with her works. So— _how_? A month into her being in the past, of all places, and she's still crying tears of confusion and frustration.

•••

Another two months and she was shown a shrine a little bit out of the village. 'They're really taking this priestess thing seriously, aren't they?' Sakura thought to herself, mildly amused. She was told it belonged to a healer which passed on a few years ago, and since the village recognized her as their new healer—which she didn't really mind—they gave it to her.

A shrine was her pseudo-home, and she was a pseudo-priestess—Sakura swears at least half of the villagers claimed her to be a yokai, some even a goddess, because of her 'healing powers, strange seal, and curious pink hair'. Sakura snorted.

•••

Another two months and she earned herself a reputation. 'The Priestess' became known—' _Hagoromo-sama has heard about you!_ '—in the nearby Lands. The Sage really has heard about her. A friend had traveled three days to visit a relative in the Sage's village, and had small talk with the Sennin, who inquired about 'The Priestess' before that friend even got to mention her. Hagoromo said he'd like to meet the chakra-using healer some time, and so Sakura was told.

She was in deep shit. How was she supposed to explain how she knew how to use chakra? As far as she knows from the Academy's history lessons, the Sage has probably just started to teach ninshu only several years ago.

If she doesn't find a way to explain how she can use chakra—or hell, how she even _has_ chakra—how the hell was she supposed to explain medical ninjutsu? Healing chakra is something she can probably have a believable excuse with, but... medical _ninjutsu_? It wasn't even supposed to be 'discovered' until Hashirama's existence. She had half the mind to bullshit her way out of it but this was the Rikudō Sennin she was talking about.

Sakura sighed, she'll settle for half-truths then. When she meets the Sage, that is. Note ' _when_ ', because this wasn't an ' _if_ '. She was sure to meet the Sage someday. And she'd be ready for it. Probably.

•••

A month later, she was 18, she finally accepted that this was now the life she'll be leading so she had traveled three days to the Sage's village to pay a visit.

She was in her red and white priestess garbs, with her long pink hair—which had obviously grown the past six months—in a low, loose ponytail that rested on her right shoulder. Her long bangs were brushed to the side, with the longer ones framing the side of her face. Her seal was visible, which was proof of her identity and prowess. Though her pink hair was enough identification to go by.

•••

Indeed, she settled with half-truths. Some of her words were cryptic as well. That she came from a village hidden in the leaves far away, but was now destroyed—she couldn't hide the sorrow in her eyes as she remembered how Konoha was destroyed by Pein. That she was born with this energy she settled to call _blessed energy_ —which is, well, chakra, not like she'd mention that of course. That her seal was made by storing her _spiritual energy_ to a focused point with exceptional control over three years—no way was she calling it _Yin Chakra_ in Hagoromo's presence. That she referred to her 'powers' iryo-jutsu, leaving out the 'nin' part, and that it came naturally to her—which was technically true, she took to medical ninjutsu like a duck to water if you leave out the part that she was taught.

Her respect towards the Sage was not faked, however. It came to her easily because heck, every single shinobi would respect him. He was _the Sage_ , for goodness's sake. So it was a plus point in gaining the Sage's trust—maybe.

Sakura was positive that the Ōtsutsuki patriarch was still doubtful of her, but surely he didn't suspect anything ill of her anymore. She was, after all, respected as a _healer_ , and not feared as a killer. So... plus points?

Another thing she had to be careful of was hand seals, because Indra was the first one who used them for ninjutsu. And she didn't even know if the Sage's sons exist already.

So it startled that the Sage already had his sons for more than a decade. The older one, Indra was only five years younger than her while the younger, Ashura was six years younger. Thirteen and twelve then, Sakura mused, how cute.

"I would like it if you meet them, but they just finished training," Hagoromo told her, "Indra's out by the nearby hill honing his abilities, while my little son Ashura is out at play."

Sakura hummed, and replied, "I would like to meet these little ones too."

She asked if she could take a stroll, to see if there were herbs unique to this land that couldn't be found around where her shrine was. The Sage allowed her to.

•••

Sakura wandered a little farther off than she intended to, but a distressed spike of chakra caught her attention—and were those trees falling she's hearing? Her breath got caught in her throat as she recognized the signature.

'Naruto!'

It was so, so similar to Naruto. But at the same time it also seemed like.. Lord First's? Why would this signature be a combination of Naruto and Hashirama-sama's? An ancestor of the Senju and Uzumaki, then?

But it was so... so _Naruto_ and—

Another spike, and Sakura moved. She rushed to where the chakra signature was and found a boar running into a young boy. The boy flew back a few feet, and the boar was getting ready to charge again.

She wasn't taking any chances, she rushed at the wild boar with a chakra-infused fist, aiming right at the top of its head. As her first connected with one of its tenketsu, her eyes narrowed. 'This isn't an ordinary boar.'

A clean hit, the boar died quickly, but she left it in the middle of crater too big for her liking. Sakura pulled her fist back, relaxing on her side as she straightened up. There was a new chakra signature that arrived into the scene, and this one made hell freeze over for her.

This one was like... like _Sasuke's_. Naruto and Sasuke's chakra were both... so _near_ her and... _her boys_ —

Sakura turned around and came facing off with two young children. One that had been the source of the chakra spike had short spiky brown hair, while the other one—the one with Sasuke's chakra—had a long mane of brown hair that reminded her of Madara's.

How... peculiar.

These two, Sakura was sure, were Naruto and Sasuke's ancestors. To see them together was amusing and, it made her a bit emotional. She wondered if she'll meet her own ancestor, surely she has one, right?

The younger one rushed to his feet and hid behind his brother, but kept his eyes trained on her. Sakura's eyes softened, his gaze was just so... Naruto.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. The boy looked at the pseudo-Sasuke, and muttered a small but audible 'nii-san?'

Sakura's stiffened for a second before relaxing. Naruto and Sasuke's ancestors, were _brothers_?

That stirred something within her, as she smiled softly at the two young boys. Who would've known?

"You're the Priestess," the older boy said, "aren't you?"

Sakura only nodded, she had grown accustomed to that title after all these months.

The older one turned to look at his little brother, "It's okay, Ashura. She's a friend. She helped you, did she not?"

Amused as Sakura was, she became even more so. Ashura did a 180 and beamed at her brightly, as if he wasn't wary of her a minute ago. "Thanks a lot, nee-san! That was amazing! You're so strong! Ne, nee-san, how did you do that? And what's a priestess? Why do you have pink hair? Why is it pink? What's that diamond thing? Do you have powers? Or, or maybe chak—"

Ashura was cut off, being poked on the forehead by his brother's forefingers. "Ashura, be polite."

Sakura chuckled at the sight. "I'm Sakura, and yes I'm a priestess. I heal people."

"Oh, oh!" Ashura perked up, "The pink healer!"

Sakura blinked. Huh, that was new. Pink healer, really?

His brother only sighed, before turning back to Sakura, "Thank you for helping my brother, I appreciate it. My name is Indra."

Sakura hummed, "Hagoromo's sons?"

Indra nodded, and turned back to Ashura. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

Ashura shook his head, wearing a toothy grin. "I'm fine!" He flailed about exaggeratedly, "See?"

Indra frowned, "You were reckless."

Ashura visibly deflated, and Sakura had to stifle her laughter. They were so much like Naruto and Sasuke, she didn't know what to feel about it. But she knew, she was happy. There was some familiar people in this place, and it made her a little less lonely.

"Ashura!" a different voice chimed in. It was still that of a child's and just as Sakura thought, she turned and there were three other boys perched on a branch.

"Taizo!" Ashura beamed, "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're good!" the one with kind-of long hair replied. The three kids turned to Sakura with boyish grins on their faces, "Thanks, _miko-san_ *!"

Sakura nodded to their direction wordlessly, but returned a smile. She could see from the corner of her eye that—well, Indra was not amused at Ashura's friends.

"Ashura," Sakura called, stepping out of the small crater and walked towards the two brothers. "Be a dear and let me see if you're alright. I saw you get hit by that boar, you most likely got bruises from it."

"You got what?" Indra turned to Ashura sharply. "Ashura..."

"I-I'm really fine!" Ashura assured them, but Sakura wasn't having it. At all.

She stopped in front of the kids and held out a finger to poke Ashura's stomach. She could see Indra tensing, but she pretended not to notice.

Ashura, the brat, couldn't stop a small 'Ow..' from escaping out of him. Sakura smiled at him smugly, "I thought so."

With a small surge of chakra, her hands glowed green and hovered over Ashura's stomach for two seconds before she pulled back. Ashura's three friends were mumbling about it a bit too loudly, Sakura noted. She's sure she heard a 'she knows magic!' somewhere there. How cute.

Meanwhile, the two brothers were intrigued, Ashura was curious, and Indra was a little wary. Sakura chuckled at their expressions and poked the younger brother again. "How about that?"

Ashura blinked, before looking up at her. He looked down to his own stomach and poked it himself. A smile slowly crept up his face before erupting into a Naruto-like toothy grin, "It doesn't hurt anymore!"

"I'm still upset at you," Indra said, popping little Ashura's happy bubble. "But thank you, miko-san."

Ashura sniffled and pouted at his brother, but perked up when he felt a hand ruffling his hair. It was Sakura.

She ruffled Ashura's hair and patted Indra. She just had to do it, you know?

"Why don't we head back to your home and have a little chat?" Sakura winked, "I can show you quite a bit on what earned me my reputation as The Priestess."

That ignited Indra's curiosity, and he nodded. "It would be an honor."

"What?" Ashura drawled, "Is that fun?"

The boy straightened up when Indra shot him a look.

"Alright then," Sakura chimed, "Let's get you cute little kiddies back home."

Ashura jumped, flushing red, "C-Cute?!"

Sakura only hummed, ushering the two to the direction of their home. Ashura and Indra waddled—Sakura was convinced that they waddle, they were _adorable_ —to that direction ahead of her. Sakura smiled at the sight, her features softening. She turned back to Ashura's friends—one of them was Taizo, right?—and told them, "You kids head back home safely too, okay?"

The kids cheerfully agreed to do so with a chorus of, "Okay!" And with another, "Thanks again, miko-san!" Sakura smiled at them, watchful of them scrambling away.

But her smile vanished and she looked over her shoulder, away from the direction of any of the kids. Her knowing eyes bore into those of Black Zetsu's—but, how was he even _here_?—promising pain and giving cold warnings. She didn't know how in Shodai's name was Black Zetsu even in this timeline, but she knows he's up to no good, and she's going to get to the bottom of it. Come to think of it, she'll do what she can to give the future a nudge in the right direction while she's at it.

She could tell the black blob was outraged as he slithered back into the shadows. She'll have to do something about him later.

"Miko-san?" That was Indra, she'd probably have to ask him about Black Zetsu, too. The kid looks like he knows something.

She turned back to them with a small smile, "Aa, let's go."

* * *

•••

* _miko - means priestess_

 **A/N: I'm seriously paranoid about this lol I probably screwed up some points in canon (e.g. Indra getting his Sharingan in the last scene, let's assume he still gets it ahaha). Oh and about the Byakugo and the genjutsu thing, I totally BS-ed that. I may have a thing for Sakura with her seal activated so... idk.**

 **I can see a lot of potential in this kind of plot, honestly. Imagine this as a 738263-chaptered fic. I can honestly see the two little cuties liking Sakura(nee-san~) and well, they're only a few years apart so... wonder what'll happen when they reach the point where that age-gap won't matter anymore. Wink wink.**

 **Reviews are appreciated!**


	2. Shot 2: Sakura-nee-san!

"There," Sakura, 18, retracted her right hand from hovering over an unblemished forehead, which had sported a gash only minutes ago.

Ashura, the little dear, whimpered a small 'thank you' and rubbed a balled fist on his teary eyes. The child had a little trouble while trying to get himself some extra training with his older brother a while ago.

Ashura had been such a fluffball of excitement in weaving some hand-signs Indra taught him. But he had wanted to, as he had said, _'Do this hand-stuff as fast and as cool as nii-san does!'_ So he tried to imitate Indra's weaving, which was fast and on point. Ashura's weaving turned into a mess. He was going for it too quickly, his hand-signs formed clumsily. It did not end well for the thirteen-year old, and a misplaced pinky finger had shot an unwanted but fortunately weak—but still sharp, nonetheless—stream of wind-chakra straight at his forehead.

That small stream of wind-chakra was, on a fortunate end, caused a chakra spike enough for _Sakura-nee-san_ to sense them—or well, Ashura. The two boys weren't too far from their house, where Sakura was, drawing some swirls and squiggles on a scroll. Ashura never understood what the older girl was doing, he tilted his head to the side a few times while peering curiously over Sakura's shoulder, trying to decipher the doodles—as he called them. But Indra— _"Nii-san, what are those?", "I'm not too sure myself, Ashura."_ —seemed to have a vague idea on what they were. Sakura— _"Nee-san!"_ —told them it was for storing things, and that their dad wanted a few strips of paper with them. The response she got was Ashura's ever confused face and Indra tilting his head.

The cuties. Really.

Sakura reached out and patted Ashura's head, "You really should be more careful with ninjutsu, Ashura-chan."

Indra, who had somehow migrated from Ashura's side to Sakura's, nodded agreeably. "You were only supposed to be performing a simple clone jutsu. How did you even channel elemental chakra?"

"I didn't!" Ashura exclaimed, "I was just doing the signs as quick as you do and then I-I..."

Amused, Sakura hummed, "Well, I think you'll do quite well with elemental jutsus based on what I felt from that fairly strong chakra spike." She paused, grinning at Ashura teasingly. "Though you _did_ do it accidentally.."

"He almost did a Fuuton," Indra stated, bemused.

Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. She never thought she'd hear that term so soon. "Wind Release?"

Indra only nodded, "That's what I'm calling the five elemental jutsus. Fuuton, Katon, Suiton, Raiton and Doton."

Ashura perked up, "They sound so cool, nii-san! Ne, ne, can you do all of them?"

The older of the two nodded, "Yes. But I have not mastered them yet."

'Not mastering all five isn't at all a drawback if you can _do_ even so much as only four elements. But five?' Sakura wondered. 'That's a huge feat for a thirteen going on fourteen year-old.'

"Ne, Sakura-nee-san," Ashura practically chirped, "Can you do all that, too?"

'Doton and Suiton.' Not like she'd say that out loud though. She wasn't supposed to know what they were, _yet_. "No, dear," she denied. "I can only do iryo-jutsu—or iryo-ninjutsu, as how Indra-chan here would like me to call it. It's really not that impressive—"

"It is so," Indra cut in. "It's impressive. Beyond that, even. How you have developed it is proof of your genius."

Sakura almost snorted. The _creator_ of jutsus, calling _her_ a genius? For her medical-ninjutsu prowess which may be on par with her shishou's, but still needs a shit ton more work on? And she did _not_ at all develop medical ni—

"And please don't call me Indra-chan," the boy added.

Sakura's eye twitched.

Ashura burst into a fit of laughter, "'Indra-chan'! It suits you though, nii-san!"

The sharingan-wielding boy gave his little sibling a pointed look, but only got himself a sheepish grin for a response.

* * *

•••

A nineteen year-old Sakura squished a now 14-and-proud Ashura's cheeks. "Happy birthday, Ashura-chan!"

Ashura squawked at the childish nickname, though the sound was muffled. He managed to grunt out a somewhat still intelligible, "I'm not a kid anymore nee-chan!"

And yes that was a '-chan', because Sakura had been graced with the honors of such a promotion only a month ago. She raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Really? You aged only by a year, brat, not by a decade."

Ashura flailed, but somehow got out of Sakura's grip—she's so strong it's _insane._ The boy puffed out his chest, assuming a manly—or so he thought—pose, "Still! I'm practically an adult already!"

Indra snorted, shaking his head after sharing a look of amusement with Sakura. The pink-haired young woman poked Ashura on the forehead with her forefingers, "And what makes you think that?"

The younger boy was just about to proudly blab out whatever proclamation he had, before he hesitated, and stopped himself. That made Sakura curious. The child—or self-proclaimed adult—was obviously hiding something.

Ashura looked like he found himself stuck in the middle of a life-and-death situation. The sight would've made Sakura chuckle,if only it didn't make her borderline suspicious on what was running around his mind. With that suspicion, came mild surprise. Ashura was so similar to a certain descendant of his, that Sakura found it hard to believe he actually managed to stop himself from running his mouth. Naruto—sweet, loud and bathed in sunshine _Naruto_ —would've announced an S-class secret to an entire village without thinking about it for a damn second.

Well, that was probably pushing it. But that was as close as it could get.

Ashura was now childishly—and most likely unknowingly—showing his hesitation and guilt. Sakura likened him to a child who lied about not taking a cookie from the jar, and regretting it a moment later. He had his hands behind his back, and his feet were shuffling about. The only thing missing from the image was a pair of dog ears falling flat on his head. Sakura immediately beat down the suspicion in her mind. After all, how bad could it be?

Sakura glanced towards Hagoromo-sama, who was by the sidelines, watching the whole exchange, amused as she was. He nodded at her wordlessly, but with a faint smile.

"Ashura..." Sakura began gently, as if approaching a frightened duckling. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

The boy muttered some incomprehensible phrases under his breath, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He always had hated lying to his nee-chan. Last time he even tried to, it felt terrible, and he felt unbelievably guilty. Ashura peeked at his older brother from the corner of his eyes, and glared with the ferocity of an agitated pup when he saw Indra still sporting an amused expression. He was in on this, too! Why couldn't _he_ —

"I assume you're involved in this, Indra-chan?" Sakura hummed, gaze drifting over to the older brother.

"Yes," Indra admitted without a second-thought. He, too, hated lying to Sakura-san—he had been referring to her as such because he was a bit too proud to call her with a title as childish as _nee-san._ Or maybe he was just used to being the older sibling. Besides, the kid called everyone but his father by their names. So the '-san' in the way he called Sakura was a bonus, a privilege even.

"And must I ask of you again not to call me 'Indra-chan'." Sakura snorted, and Ashura made no effort whatsoever to stifle his laughter. And was that Hagoromo-sama chuckling she could hear? Eh.

Stubborn as she was, Sakura tutted, "Indra-chan is Indra-chan." Before the now annoyed older sibling could lash out, Sakura straightened her posture, smiling. "Now, what was it you want to tell me?"

Indra inhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose before looking at Sakura straight in the eye. "Me and Ashura are—"

"Meandnii-sanaregoingtogotravellingforacoupleofyearstogetstrongerandlearncoolnewstuff!"

Sakura blinked, and turned to the younger boy whose face was slightly red and had his eyes squeezed shut. She pretended not to notice the subtle twitching from Indra, who probably didn't take to being cut off too well. The little hypocrite.

"Can you say that more slowly, dear?" Sakura coaxed, trying to ease Ashura's nervousness.

Ashura hesitated, but went for it, "M-Me and n..nii-san a—"

"What _outouto_ here was trying to say was," Indra cleared his throat. "Me and Ashura," here was thrown a look that basically said _You better not interrupt me_ _, or else._ Huh, Sakura mused, he _was_ an ancestor of some certain Uchiha she knew. Go figure. "Are going to go on a two-year training trip, to learn more about chakra, jutsus or as he put it, _cool new stuff_."

'That's it?' Sakura wondered. That was what Ashura was looking so guilty over? For not telling her this? Sure, two years was a long time, and anything could happen. But it wasn't like she hadn't been through this kind of stuff. She was alright with it as long as they kept in touch. The reason why they thought of it as a big deal was probably because in this era, keeping in touch was not that easy. Domesticated messenger birds weren't exactly a thing yet.

Take Naruto for example, he had left for a two-and-a-half year training trip, hit a very effective growth spurt, learned _cool new stuff,_ but they kept in touch. Only difference was that Naruto was younger when he went for it, and he was with a _Sannin_ , or to be specific, Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. So with her little kiddies here, she would only allow this if an adult went with them. Surely the Sage considered it, because if Ashura can still look like a kicked puppy at fourteen, and was already planning for long-term training trips, a guardian has to be there. And as capable and sensible as Indra was, he too, is still fourteen. Only two years into the teenage stage. So yes, they need a guardian.

This era was peaceful, and considering the fortunate lack of jinchuuriki and jinchuuriki-belly hunters—a.k.a. the bijuu-hunting Akatsuki—a guardian would do. But if they needed someone Sannin-level with them, Sakura could always... you know, tag along.

"Saito will accompany them," Hagoromo informed her, verbally participating in the conversation—banter?—for once. He probably noticed her pondering for a while there.

"That's fine," Sakura said. Not like she had a say in this after all, these brats could get away with probably anything, and she wasn't too worried. Besides, she wasn't some sort of mother, was she? She turned back to the kids, and heartily chuckled. "Really, Ashura? That's what you're worried about? I'm fine with it, there's no need to look so mopey!"

With that, Ashura straightened up, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Really? Yay! We promise to come back as soon as we're strong and cool! Oh, I mean, strong _er_ and cool _er_! And, and! Then we will protect nee-chan!"

"Of course you will," Sakura cooed, ruffling both their hair. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," Indra piped in. "It's somewhat of a birthday gift from father, you see. For both of us."

Sakura hummed in understanding, "Well, just come back soon, okay? You better not make nee-chan miss you cute little kiddies too much!" She sighed a little too dramatically, "My cute Ashura-chan and Indra-chan, already leaving the nest and going out to see the world!"

The two brothers groaned at the title. They were not cute, or kiddies. Not anymore, at least. But this stubborn nee-san wasn't having it.

* * *

•••

Sakura, at 21, was excited to see how much her little squirts have grown in the couple of years they were gone.

Ashura should now be 16 and a few months old, while Indra should nearly be 17. Come to think of it, there's only a little less than five years worth of a gap between her and her 'babies', as she called them. They're probably taller than her already, if they've hit their growth spurts, that is. Surely they already did though. Ashura and Indra were both well off into their teenage years. The first time she met them, they were thirteen. The crown of Indra's head had only reached her elbows then. And they were barely past her shoulders a year after that.

If they towered over her now, Sakura didn't know if she'll be proud or disheartened. Being short was sometimes a bit, well, disheartening.

She trailed after Futami—Hagoromo-sama's right-hand, or adviser, probably a close friend too—who was trailing after the Sage himself towards the compound's gates. Sakura felt giddy, who knew she'd be in one of her visits to the Sage right when his sons return? She was only going to stay in the Otsutsuki's abode for an hour or two, to deliver a batch of thoroughly proofread medical scrolls written by the Sage and probably to have some tea. Ah, yes, tea sounded nice.

She had been about to bid Hagoromo-sama a good day when Futami had barged in the office, disheveled with an autumn-painted leaf sticking out of his low ponytail. Hagoromo was amused at the lack of Futami's usual three knocks, signifying the man's obvious anxiousness.

And that was when they had been told the reason why.

 _"Indra-sama and Ashura-sama have returned!"_

Sakura's heart had nearly leaped out her chest. Her baby boys were back! If they were still babies—that is. Heavens knew she won't know how to feel if her boys went through that same humongous growth spurt Naruto had gone through when he had traveled with Jiraiya-sama.

A melancholic smile found itself on her face. Ah, Naruto. _Her_ Naruto. Her happy orange skittle, _Naruto_.

"Indra, Ashura," Hagoromo's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

She looked and up, eyes wide and anxious—

What.

 _What._

 _Blessed be her soul_ — Were these two _men_ really Ashura and Indra? Her boys? Her _babies_? What in Amaterasu's name happened?

By Kami, both of them were already a head taller than her! All broad shoulders and prominent Adam's Apples and, and, gods, the _height difference!_

Sakura is _21_! These two kids—whose heights had just brushed up until her shoulders only about two years ago—are now _taller_ than her! What kind of injustice was this? Yes, she was a medic, but, this growth spurt was preposterous!

Sakura fiddled around with her priestess garbs—it had become a favorite of hers since she got used to it, and she found it very comfortable. Subconsciously, she softly pat her hair, she was looking alright, right? She— Wait. What. Why— Why did she even care? Probably to look presentable— Wait. _Argh. I'm—_

"Oof," Sakura wheezed, feeling like a huge bag of meat just slammed into her—wait no, actually, that was literally what happened. Only that bag of meat was a _taller-by-a-head,_ seemingly over-enthusiastic, _puberty-hit_ Otsutsuki Ashura.

"Nee-chan!" the man—no, _child_ , Sakura was convinced Ashura was still a child—nearly wailed with a voice way deeper than what Sakura used to hear two years ago. She was caught bewildered at this. It was just two years! And now he was all... this? _This?_ What kind of—

Sakura realized that at the new, _tragic_ height difference, the lower half of her face was already pressed up against Ashura's shoulder. She blinked. From just _until her shoulders_ , to _this_? Was this even logically possible? Sakura gently convinced herself that it was, the proof being right in front of her.

"Ashura," another, deeper than what she was used to, voice called out from behind Ashura. "That is inappropriate. Let Sakura-san go."

Being where she was, Sakura could see what now was Indra. Come to think of it, Ashura's appearance changed too. Gone were their innocent, beady eyes and here now were their narrowed, matured gazes. Indra's hair is still shaggy as ever, but is tied in a low ponytail. Ashura was sporting a piece of cloth tied over his forehead and around his head, and Sakura wonders, it's probably a trend among the Naruto species.

She heard Ashura let out a little whine, before he let go of her.

Wordlessly, Sakura took a step back and just, _stared_. These were her boys now. Looking at them, Sakura felt her heart swell with pride. Oh, how much they've grown!

"Sakura-san?"

Indra's concerned voice barely reached her, though she could hear Hagoromo-sama chuckling in amusement a bit too obviously.

She half-mindedly noticed the brothers stiffening, with the older one shooting a stern look at the younger. Ashura looked like he was panicking. Why would he—

"N-Nee-chan, don't cry! I'm sorry!" Ashura was flailing, and—wait, she's crying?

Hurriedly, Sakura raised the right sleeve of her robe and wiped her eyes. Pulling her hand away, it was indeed damp. A little bit too much pride, then.

"N-No, it's fine," she managed. Sniffling, she looked up at Ashura—and yes, it felt weird. Slowly, she raised a hand to cup the boy's left cheek. "Ashura.." she breathed out, searchingly looking into his eyes. "Look at you, all grown up."

Ashura blinked, taking in what she just told him, and broke out into a grin. A grin that was looking more and more like a certain descendant of his, not like he knew that of course. But Sakura did. And in half a heartbeat Sakura would like that grin to a certain energetic ball of orange. _Naruto..._

Ashura, still grinning, put his now much larger hand over Sakura's. "I'm home, Nee-chan."

And for a moment there, Sakura wished that it was _Naruto_ telling her that he was home, and it hurt. Ashura would never be able to replace her Naruto, to replace the boy who felt like home. But here, this Ashura, was the closest it could get to home. And that was enough for her.

" _We're_ home," added Indra, who walked up to the both of them and took his chance to brush a stray strand of bubblegum hair over Sakura's left ear.

Gods, Sakura felt herself tear up even more. Her vision was getting blurry, and her chest was constricting because—

 _Naruto and Sasuke were home._

That was how it felt like.

The two brothers in front of her will never know why she was really crying, and she'll just let them assume what they want, but—

For one second, Sakura allowed herself to see Naruto and Sasuke, instead of Ashura and Indra.

She felt terrible, homesick and happy all at once but it felt.. it felt beautiful.

Naruto and Sasuke, and Ashura and Indra were vastly different, but still so similar.

Sakura decides, grinning widely at her grown-up boys, _screw that_.

Because she loved them all the same.

* * *

 **A/N: SURPRISE. (Or maybe not. This was probably [MOST LIKELY] a huge disappointment. I apologize.)**

 **thought this was just a one-shot did ya. ha. u thought.**

 **No, I'm kidding this story is supposed to be just a one-shot AND I ADMIT I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THIS CHAPTER CAME FROM THIS WAS UNPLANNED SO ITS PROBABLY SHITTY. AND A BIT RUSHED? IDK? SO SORRY FOR THE GRAMMATICAL ERRORS. this wasn't thoroughly proofread bc i'm entirely alone in this. (CONSIDER THIS A SPECIAL CHAPTER I GUESS IDK) but i lovelvoeloeleo you all and omg the reviews. insert hearts.**

 **this now will probably just be a series of oneshots(?) surrounding this plot bunny. because i'm very fond of it and can't seem to let it go. hugs bunny.**

 **you babies can give me some ideas(pairings, anyone?) on it, i'll see if i can write it(hopefully without being a disappointment). winks. oh and i noticed this was somehow focused on ashura. (should i make a shot on indra?)**

 **Reviews are appreciated!**


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